Venezuela crisis

Venezuelas dependency on oil increased under Chavez. Just look up the numbers.

Chavez greatly improved conditions of the poor in Venezuela... most western taught economics students would say that is bad because it makes more sense to invest in the rich so they can build bigger companies so the poor can get work and earn money... the trickle down effect... the problem is that it is bullshit.

The richest people with companies pay their workers the bare minimum and skim off enormous amounts of money and value that their workers create on themselves and their rich mates/investors.

And contrary to Chavez the people before him didn't turn on the money printer when oil prices collapsed and instead implemented somewhat fiscally responsible policies that would at least mitigate the impact of these crashes instead of aggrevating them.

I know very little about economics but printing money causes inflation and destroys your economy. There are photos of women in Germany with wheelbarrows full of hundred thousands deuchmark notes.... enough to buy a loaf of bread at the time.

Printing money makes it worthless for every country on the planet except the US.

Not sure why you are arguing about this, and I am not defending US foreign policy

As for the severity of the pre- 2017 sanctions, they are overstated. FYI, up until 2017 the US itself was importing ~700 000 barrels of Venezuelan oil per day. The country was already deep in the gutter by that time. Only after the Trump Administration significantly hardened sanctions did this chokehold really emerge

They were buying 700 000 barrels of cheap oil that probably cost Venezuela more to get it to market than they made profit on the process... when the value of oil is **** all it actually does not make sense to keep selling it because you lose on the deal, but no chance of Venezuela being able to stop sales to the US without serious risk.

Of course they tried regime change anyway, and of course sending in mercenaries to release prisoners from local prisons and arm them with Army weapons for nearby Army bases... what could they possibly do that was worse than that?

Saudis tell the US what happens regarding OPEC/oil, in return they use the (petro)dollar

Nothing points at the opposite.

They also fund ISIS and Al Quada and the Taleban... when the Soviets were in Afghanistan and also when HATO was too.

Soviet economy didn't need no breaking from anyone, in fact powerful factions within the US were propping up the Soviet Union through middlemen like Armand Hammer

One glance at Chinas economy tells me immediately there is nothing fundamentally wrong with communism in terms of economics... the situation the US is currently in is vastly worse... they are in a far worse situation than the Soviets ever got themselves in to, but they couldn't just print money and they were not the standard international currency.

Note even the EU has decided to diversify away from the US dollar... that is really serious...

Only when the Soviet Union had become completely obsolete the plug was pulled - with help from very powerful Soviet politicians/businessmen that benefitted greatly from its demise bytheway

The SU didn't fall, it was a controlled implosion.

The greedy people with connections and power in the Soviet Union realised they could never become billionaires in a communist system, so they either dissolved it or did nothing to stop its collapse.

With good management problems could have been solved... well they have been... look at Russia now.... if you eliminate the destruction and theft of the 1990s they would be in a much better position.

Also I am at a loss how US dominating the Americas and Venezuela's oil dependent economy are connected.

Can you not read?

America has only been upset with Maduro and Chavez.... all the previous leaders did as they were told and were not considered problems in the US... it was these previous leaders that created the Venezuelan economy... Maduro and Chavez made changes but not enough time to fix all the oil dependency problems in the time they had in power... the US and pro US government of Venezuela created the mess, and that mess is being made worse with sanctions and embargos and other economic pressure as well as the obvious direct threat of regime change.

Yea that's why all those US manufacturing industries have been relocated to Latin America

Slave labour is cheap... most western manufacture goes to second and third world countries to reduce overheads and allow easier ($$) problem solutions to be applied...

A million dollar lawsuit in Texas vs 10K to get a problem person killed... the economics are pretty damn clear.

Aside from that this is a silly condition to determine what country is socialist and what country is not.

The definition of socialist or communist is whatever the editor for whatever that western media outlet decides, so Putin and Chavez and Maduro are all dictators and communist because they say so... and don't contradict them or you are racist.

Even the DPRK claims it is democratic, and the vanguard concept of 'democratic centralism' is pillar in Leninism

To be fair it is probably more democratic than the US or most of the west if you are not rich.

As for Venezuela being socialist or not, I'll let the person in questions speak for themselves.

The problem is terminology and what you expect from your government. Most countries in the EU expect their government to look after the people with healthcare and education etc etc. In the US and US dominated countries that is considered socialism and a step short of communism... imagine everyone getting free healthcare if they need it or an education... in the American west government can't be trusted on anything and it is big business that will provide all services including essential services like power and water.

For most Americans socialism is about communism and government doing everything, but for most europeans a government can be changed while companies cannot and no one gets to vote regarding companies... especially international companies that are more interested in profit, so for instance Pfizer does not want to create cures to diseases... there is less profit in curing people than there is with life time treatments and care.

A government wants sick people cured and back working and paying tax, but a big company wants to treat that person for life because it is more profitable.

So for once I agree with you Big G, because Chavez/Maduro are straight up dumbasses with zero understanding of economy and the geopolitical realities.

They managed to get the full support of the majority of their people... the rich and the 1% flipped immediately and supported the US but they are under US sanctions now too so **** them. They are not stupid, but they took risks and in the long term investment from Russia and China and perhaps India means they have a potential way out of poverty that the US dominance has trapped them into for the last century or two.

And you decided this sitting behind a screen in NZ?

Find me 10 Chavistas amongst Venezuelans in Colombia and I'll send a cake your way. Protip, they don't exist.

Of course, so tell me exactly what it is like on the ground there... I am assuming you are in Texas on the ground right near the border.

The way imperialism works is that you take the richer members of a country, who are always a minority, but generally run most things and own most things because their ancestor white europeans generally stole it from the natives, and you get them on side so they make some money as you rob them of oil and anything else of value. The poor get nothing, but occasionally someone managed to get into power that actually cares about the people and tries to cut ties... putin, Saddam, Gaddafi, Castro... normally their crime is seizing assets from a 1%er that should not have had them in the first place... that is what communism is by the way, but when the US then seizes that countries foreign assets then that is not communism... that is democracy and freedom.

Never judge a country by what the people running away from it are saying... normally they just want a job so they will likely say what they think you want to hear... that is where Saddams WMDS came from and went, but refugees were adamant that he had them till Iraq was invaded and it was proven they didn't...

That's a bit dramatic, and in line with the bleeding heart liberal Open Border propaganda

WTF are you talking about.... I am telling you what is happening because it happens everywhere... in the midst of the Covid epidemic certain business owners were complaining about lost income because so called seasonal workers could not come in to the country and work for them at terrible rates in terrible conditions.... Fishery companies got Russian and Ukrainian fishermen to work the fishing boats because they are cheap and don't know New Zealand law, or don't care. The fruit want fruit pickers to work in terrible conditions for poor pay and they know local workers just wont put up with that shit.

I am not blaming the illegal workers, or the legal ones... I am blaming the employers that screw their workers... shit like people working in bars and cafes who survive on tips... it is like an extra tax... we don't do that in NZ but I have seen enough US TV and Movies... if they don't want to pay them to serve tables then let the customers order their own food at a table and go up and get their own food so they wont need to pay peanuts for waiting staff.

Reality is that tens of billions of dollars are spent on these people, and that hustling as an illegal is in many cases more lucrative then wageslaving as a US citizen.

If that were true then a US citizen should turn up without documents to their next job interview... but smells like BS to me.

I agree the US doesn't support land reform in Latin America; you would have thought they would to take the sail out of the wind of the far left movements down there.

But America is directed by their rich and powerful families many of which either own land in those places or are close friends with the people who do own most of that land... they probably go to the same golf club or some such and if there is land reform in central and south america... what happens if it is an amazing success and there are calls for land reform further north so to speak...

Venezuelan Security Forces Detain 3 Colombian Militants in Caracas Raid, 10.07.2021.

CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuelan security forces detained three Colombian militants and seized a huge arsenal of foreign-made weapons during a three-day operation in Caracas, the vice president said Saturday.

"We captured three Colombian militants and confiscated weapons used by US and Colombian armed forces," Delcy Rodriguez told a news conference.

Interior Minister Carmen Melendez said four national guard and police officers were killed during the operation, dubbed Great Indian Chief Guaicaipuro.

Clashes between security forces and gangs began in the western Caracas neighborhoods on Wednesday night.

Rodriguez said that gang leaders were found to be hoarding food supplies that had been distributed among the poor under the state food security scheme. She said gangs were being financed by the right-wing opposition.

Venezuela launched an operation on 21 March to root out militants in the area near the Venezuelan-Colombian border, destroying several camps, seizing weapons and arresting dozens of people. The operation was initiated in response to an armed attack on a checkpoint controlled by the Venezuelan military in the border city of La Victoria. In early April, eight Venezuelan soldiers were reported to have perished in the clashes, while 34 were injured.

https://sputniknews.com/latam/202107101083357720-venezuelan-security-forces-detain-3-colombian-militants-in-caracas-raid/

The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, showed evidence that the US company CTU Security LLC that hired Colombian mercenaries to assassinate the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, could be involved in the attack on the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on August 4, 2018.

https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210713/venezuela-la-empresa-involucrada-en-el-magnicidio-en-haiti-habria-atentado-contra-maduro-en-2018-1114071725.html

UK says it sees Guaido as Venezuela’s ‘only legitimate president’ ahead of appeal hearing in battle for blocked gold, 19.07.2021.

The British Foreign Office has backed Venezuela’s opposition figurehead Juan Guaido in his battle for the country’s gold reserves. A court ruled earlier that London may have recognized President Nicolas Maduro as de facto leader.

While the European Union no longer formally recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president after he was ousted as head of parliament last year, the British government continues to throw its weight behind the opposition politician even after the UK Court of Appeals ruled back in October that such a stance may not reflect the reality on the ground.

Guaido, who vies for access to Venezuela’s $1 billion worth of gold reserves held up at the Bank of England, challenged the ruling, and the UK Supreme Court is set to hear the case on Monday.

In a statement to the court, the British Foreign Office said London sees Guaido as “the only individual recognized to have the authority to act on behalf of Venezuela as its head of state,” while endorsing regime change and calling for “a peaceful transition to democracy.”

"The UK government is clear that Juan Guaido has been recognised by Her Majesty’s Government since February 2019 as the only legitimate President of Venezuela".

In what was seen as a blow to Guaido and his supporters’ aspirations to get hold of the gold reserves, the UK Court of Appeals said in October that the case should be reconsidered after a lower court had ruled in favor of Guaido. While not awarding control over the reserves to either of the parties, the appeals court called Guaido’s recognition by London “at any rate less than unequivocal” and argued that it “leaves open the possibility that HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] may impliedly recognise Mr Maduro as the de facto President of Venezuela’’ as opposed to Guaido being the de jure leader.

The Venezuelan central bank (BCV), loyal to Caracas, has long argued that the Bank of England’s failure to release the funds has imperiled the sanctions-hit nation’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In March, Maduro said Caracas would like to use some of the billions of the country’s funds blocked in foreign bank accounts, including in the UK, to purchase vaccines through the World Health Organization-led COVAX mechanism, but was unable to do so.

In January, lawyers representing BCV claimed Guaido shut down a proposal for his alternative “Ad Hoc” board of the national bank to pool efforts with Caracas in the fight against the virus and transfer some $120 million in funds held in Britain to the Gavi Alliance Covax Facility to secure the jabs.

While Guaido’s representatives rejected the claim as “false,” a letter allegedly drafted by Guaido’s legal team stated that he “cannot consent” to the proposal.

“Our clients will not lend their support to arrangements which ultimately leave it to the Maduro regime to decide who gets vaccinated,” the letter, allegedly penned by Guaido’s legal counsel Arnold & Porter in December and shared on social media, read.

https://www.rt.com/uk/529554-venezuela-gold-reserve-court/

Guaido, who vies for access to Venezuela’s $1 billion worth of gold reserves held up at the Bank of England, challenged the ruling, and the UK Supreme Court is set to hear the case on Monday.

Is it my memory or was that 2 billion in gold a year or two ago?

Funny that the UK government sees Guano as the leader despite never having been elected by anyone in Venezuela... a bit like seeing Crimean waters as being Ukrainian still.

Colonial power continuing to abuse third world countries... denying them money for vaccines is very low.

Battle for Venezuelan Gold Heads to UK Supreme Court as No 10 Insists Guaido ‘Legitimate President’, by Ilya Tsukanov for Sputniknews, 20.07.2021.

The failure of the January 2019 Venezuelan coup attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaido prompted the US and its Latin American and European allies including Britain to seize tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Venezuelan government assets abroad, ranging from oil companies to gold bullion. Caracas has fought to get these assets back.

The British government has reiterated its continued support for Juan Guaido in the legal campaign for the estimated $1.2 billion in Venezuelan gold bullion stuck in a Bank of England vault.

“The UK government is clear that Juan Guaido has been recognized by Her Majesty’s Government since February 2019 as the only legitimate President of Venezuela,” the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement late Monday.

The statement came as Britain’s Supreme Court started hearings Monday to determine whether the Bank of England should be made to transfer the gold, which represents about 15 percent of Venezuela’s foreign currency reserves, back to the democratically-elected Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro, or allow Guaido’s self-proclaimed ‘government’ to claim it.

In its statement, the FCO referred to the Maduro government as “the illegitimate Maduro regime” and stressed that it would oppose any gold transfer back to Caracas.

“The UK government has the right to decide who to recognize as the legitimate head of a foreign state. The UK recognizes Juan Guaido as President of Venezuela and consequently he is the only individual recognized to have the authority to act on behalf of Venezuela as its head of state,” an FCO spokesperson said. “Venezuela needs a peaceful transition to democracy with free and fair elections, both legislative and presidential,” the spokesperson added.

In its formal argument to the Supreme Court, the UK government bases its argument on the principle of recognition, and cites decades of British foreign policy going back a century to conclude that foreign assets seized by the UK cannot be transferred back to their respectful owners if the UK does not recognize those owners’ authority over their countries.

Leigh Crestohl, a lawyer representing the Venezuelan government, suggested that the British government’s politicized position threatens to mar the reputations of both the City of London and the Bank of England.

“International observers to this case may be surprised by the possibility that a unilateral statement of political recognition by the UK government can dispossess a foreign sovereign of assets deposited in London without any recourse in the English Court,” Crestohl said in a statement. “This is all the more so where that recognition ignores the reality on the ground.”

Caracas has sought the repatriation of its 31 tonne stockpile of gold from the UK since late 2018, first approaching the Bank of England to do so in December of that year. The BoE stalled, allowing 17 tonnes of gold to be returned, but keeping its hands on the remaining 14 tonnes. In January 2019, when Guaido proclaimed himself the country’s president, London proceeded to ignore Venezuelan government requests altogether.

Guaido’s ‘government’, already accused of plundering hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuelan government assets transferred to its control, wants the remaining gold to be handed over to its control.

The British Supreme Court battle comes in the wake of London’s rejection of an earlier ruling by a lower court which concluded in October 2020 that the gold belongs to the Maduro government.

Maduro was reelected for a second term as president in May 2018. In January 2019, weeks after his second inauguration, opposition leader Guaido proclaimed himself the country’s ‘interim president’ and called for protesters and the army to topple Maduro. Guaido was immediately recognized by Washington and its Latin American and European allies, while Russia, China and others dismissed Guaido’s claim to power. Washington seized tens of billions of dollars in Venezuelan government assets abroad, including cash and gold stuck in vaults, and Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s national oil company, PDVSA.

Some of these assets have since been quietly transferred to Guaido’s control, leading to scandals as funds and USAID cash were siphoned off and embezzled into private accounts. Amid these scandals, Venezuelan Prosecutor General William Saab has accused Guido and his supporters of acting less like an opposition and more like a “mafia.”

https://sputniknews.com/business/202107201083422424-battle-for-venezuelan-gold-heads-to-uk-supreme-court-as-no-10-insists-guaido-legitimate-president/

With metal in voice: British court divides Venezuela's gold reserves, by Ksenia Loginova for Izvestia. 21.07.2021.

London cannot decide who owns power in Caracas.

The British Supreme Court has once again wondered who will get the billion dollars in Venezuelan gold reserves held at the Bank of England. For three years now, the fate of gold has been in limbo. In July last year, the court decided to deny Caracas access to gold bars. Their decision in London was explained by the fact that the United Kingdom recognizes the opposition leader Juan Guaido, and not the elected President Nicolas Maduro, as the legitimate leader of Venezuela . But in October, the appellate court overturned this decision. Now events are entering a new stage of development. Details - in the material "Izvestia".

No president but Guaido

"Juan Guaido has been recognized by Her Majesty's government since February 2019 as the only legitimate President of Venezuela," the British Foreign Office said in a statement. "He (Guaidó) is the only person who has the authority to act on behalf of Venezuela as head of state," added a Foreign Office spokesman, noting that Venezuela "needs a peaceful transition to democracy."

With such statements in support of the Venezuelan oppositionist, the Foreign Ministry issued on July 19 - on the eve of the start of the final proceedings in the Supreme Court regarding the fate of Venezuelan gold, which has been stored in the Bank of England for decades.

We are talking about reserves that make up about 15% of the country's foreign exchange reserves - 31 tons of Venezuelan gold with a total value of $ 1 billion. Central banks of many countries prefer to keep their gold reserves in proven vaults on neutral territory. Usually, the procedure for issuing gold is simple, if the recipient does not raise doubts from the holding party. But in the event of political changes such as those in Venezuela, difficulties may arise.

Lawyers representing the Central Bank of Venezuela claim that the money will help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic, "support the health care system, devastated by the economic crisis that has not abated in the country for six years." Opponents of President Maduro are confident that "the funds will go to corruption schemes."

Venezuelan dual power

The gold dispute began in May 2018, when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected to a second six-year term. Most opposition parties boycotted the elections. The National Assembly of the country, in which at that time the opposition was in the majority, did not recognize the voting results. Parliament ruled that the presidency would be vacant in this case.

According to the Constitution, in such situations, the head of the National Assembly should temporarily exercise presidential powers, at that time it was Juan Guaido. He was recognized as the head of state by 50 countries, including the United States and Britain. Russia and China supported Maduro.

Boris Johnson, then British Foreign Secretary, said: "We may have to tighten the economic screws on Venezuela." Concerned about the tightening of sanctions against the Maduro government, the Central Bank of Venezuela told the Bank of England that it would like to sell some of its reserves.

At the end of 2018, the head of the Venezuelan central bank went to London to discuss this issue with representatives of the Bank of England, but he was refused, citing the fact that a similar request was received from the Banking Council, appointed by Juan Guaido .

After that, the Maduro government again tried to take gold in the amount of $ 1 billion, explaining this by the need to fight the pandemic. Once again denied, the Venezuelan authorities asked the UN to mediate and filed a lawsuit in May demanding the transfer of the bullion to the UN Food Program.

The High Court of London, which the parties eventually turned to, sided with the Bank of England in July 2020, stating that Britain would recognize the interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaido as the legal representative, therefore denying the government access to gold bars from the Latin American country's reserves.

Lawyers for the Central Bank of Venezuela said that the court's conclusion notes: de jure, Britain does not recognize Maduro as president of the country, but does so de facto. Thus, the British diplomatic mission is working in Caracas, and in London, Venezuela is represented by the ambassador appointed by Maduro. Maduro remained in the presidential palace, the police, the army, and other important government agencies are subordinate to him.

According to lawyers representing Caracas, the British court did not take into account these circumstances, as well as the difficult economic situation in the country, which is further complicated by the international sanctions against the country. Most of the population lives in poverty, the country lacks medicines and food. In 2019, inflation in Venezuela amounted to a record 800 thousand. percent.

London-based lawyer Lee Kristolle, representing the Central Bank of Venezuela, notes that while the case was being tried in British courts, other European courts agreed to the Venezuelan government's request and issued the funds needed to buy medicines to combat covid and, in particular, the coronavirus vaccine.

In January of this year, the EU refused to recognize Guaido as the country's interim president due to the fact that he "lost his post as head of the Venezuelan parliament after the December elections."

“Guaido did not live up to the hopes placed on him. He did not receive the support within the country that would allow him to come to power. There was no split in the ruling circles of Venezuela. The revolution has collapsed, "said Andrei Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), in an interview with Izvestia.

Won the battle

Last October, it looked like Venezuela had won the interim round. Caracas then had a chance to return the gold reserves to the country. The London Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's decision because it considered Guaidó's recognition as interim leader "not entirely unambiguous." They decided to return the case to the High Court of London.

The trial taking place there is also closely followed in Moscow. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, wrote in her Telegram channel that billions of dollars in assets belonging to Venezuela and Libya continue to illegally remain in British banks. “If we were talking about a detective series, then such a“ coincidence ”of events would have been described as pre-planned actions of these persons for the purpose of a criminal conspiracy in selfish interests. It is clear that we are talking about big money, and even in gold equivalent, ”the diplomat noted. Zakharova added that "the British government does not care at all that Caracas needs money to fight the coronavirus."

The British behave like junior partners of the United States, and most of their decisions are related to the political pressure of the United States. Including the situation with the gold and foreign exchange reserve of Venezuela, says Professor of St. Petersburg State University Natalya Eremina. “ Great Britain takes the same position in relation to Venezuela and its legitimate leader as the United States. They work in unison. In this case, the main task is to deprive the Venezuelan political regime of financial opportunities and prevent it from solving problems and developing. There is targeted direct pressure on Venezuela. This is a direct blackmail, a direct threat. This is a very harsh impact on countries , "the political scientist noted in an interview with Izvestia.

According to the expert, in the current environment, trust in the United States and Great Britain as partners is sharply declining. “Probably, you need to realize that it is rather difficult to keep any resources and assets in these countries, then they may simply not be returned. Pressure on Venezuela will continue in all possible ways. But it will also affect the reputation of Britain as a financial center, ”Eremina is sure.

In the current situation, it is difficult to explain why Venezuelan reserves continue to be held at the Bank of England, said Andrei Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council. “There is President Maduro. Of course, you can treat him differently, but he controls the country. For centuries, Great Britain, unlike other countries, has adhered to such a diplomatic tradition: it has always recognized the leadership that actually controls the situation in the country, regardless of whether they share the same values ​​or not, ”the specialist explained.

Kortunov believes that the British are now in a difficult position . “If you recognize Maduro, then you have to admit that they made a serious mistake by supporting Guaido, and also return the money. And if you do not recognize Maduro, then it becomes ambiguous, because there is a legitimate government that controls power in the country, and Britain continues to withhold the money of this state. In general, British foreign policy has found itself in an uncomfortable situation, and there are no good ways out of it, ”the political scientist is sure.

https://iz.ru/1195554/kseniia-loginova/s-metallom-v-golose-britanskii-sud-delit-zolotoi-zapas-venesuely

Perhaps countries should reconsider investing their national wealth in London as it has clearly proven itself to be unreliable and rather risky, and that the resulting theft has caused further suffering and hardship and deaths on top of the effects of sanctions and covid does not seem to bother them in the slightest suggests they would have no qualms in doing it to anyone.